BARACOA

This place is said to be the loveliest place in the whole Cuba. It is situated on the seashore of the Atlantic Ocean, in the landscape of the green mountains, covered by the denses forest with many palms and cacao-trees, and interwoven by many rivers. Christopher Columbus landed exactly there in 1492, and said the memorable sentece, that it was the moct beautiful place which the human´s eye had ever seen. He named this place as Porto Santo, and as a symbol of the Spanish head, he have had a wooden cross held up there (La Cruz de la Parra). It is considered to be the one of the most important sacred relic in the whole Latin America today. It is placed in the scenic cathedral- Catedral de Nuestra Seňora de la Asuncion, on the edge of the green square Parque Independencia located in the historical town centre. Attention- the cathedral is opened only in the midmornig hours.

The crux La Cruz de la Parra brought by Christopher Columbus in October 28,1942

The considerable dominant in the neighbourhood is the mesa El Yunque (in translation it means an "anvil"), mossy of the dense primeval forest, where you can see the wild-growing orchids and pretty red aepyphytes. The top plateau was completely isolated from the rest of the World, and that is the reason, why you can see many miraculous palms and ferns groving only there. The journey on the top of the mountain takes about two hours. It is recommended to start at the capm El Yunque (3 km far from the road Moa). In 1511 Diego Velásquez found the first town in Cuba, named it Baracoa, and the history of the New World could have begun. ...